


Brine

by forwardarcadia



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-30
Updated: 2014-09-30
Packaged: 2018-02-19 10:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2384270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forwardarcadia/pseuds/forwardarcadia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Apologies in advance, but it’s an idea that’s gnawed me for a while. After all, water and guilt both wear at one's spirit, don't they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brine

It was irony at it’s finest. It’s dark, cruel finest.

All his life he’d complained of water: How its Pokemon would douse him, how the rain made him damp, how the sea had clogged Hoenn’s landscapes.

And especially with Team Aqua, those sea-faring scalawags. How misguided their plan to expand the sea was. Hoenn was overrun with sea as is; the region didn’t need any more ocean.

It had come to this: The former Magma leader was in a small canoe, floating in the middle of Hoenn’s vast sea. He’d departed from Pacifidlog Town hours ago, rowing into the abyss. The sun had beamed down, hot and intense, during Maxie’s journey. Incessant waves slapping on his canoe only agitated his nerves further.

The sun was setting now, coloring Hoenn’s sky vividly. Vibrant pinks and deep reds were celestially painted, inter-cut with splashes of gold and orange. Maxie looked skyward, admiring nature’s artistry. It was like the heavens had exploded in a blazing fury. Just like Mt. Chimney had those years ago. “So magnificent.” he murmured with a pang of sorrow.

Past regrets flooded his mind as he rowed further into the sea he’d come to despise. For Maxie, the ocean represented his failure, his shortcomings, everything that had pained him for all these years. Long ago, he’d fought against Team Aqua to improve Hoenn’s quality of life. His rivals believed the same, saying they were in the right.

However, seeing Groudon and Kyogre, awake and raging, had shaken Maxie to his core. To think, an extraordinary child had to summon Rayquaza to quell the raging beasts. While the duo were eventually calmed, Maxie couldn’t help but question his life’s efforts. “Was it all for naught?” he’d thought relentlessly. “If awakening Groudon and Kyogre wasn’t enough, what is?”

After the fiasco, Maxie was able to rebuild his life as a soil expert. The profession was fulfilling enough, but his regrets had worn him down over time. He knew people didn’t think highly of him, but that wasn’t what broke him. Now in a little boat on the sea, Maxie knew what he had to do.

"I can’t do this anymore." he thought, breathing the hot, salty air deeply. 

Night had fallen on Hoenn now; the sky was softened to a dull pink shade. Maxie stopped rowing, scoping out his surroundings. Clear, sapphire water swept as far as the eye could see. Another sharp, heated breath.

He sat up straight, drinking fermented Shuckle Juice from a flask. Weary eyes snapped shut, their owner wincing at the liquid’s strength. Maxie decided to wait a bit, enjoying a final bit of warm sun before he went cold. He dipped his palms in the cool ocean, scooping up some salt-water. 

"It’s come to this." Maxie lamented, bringing the liquid to his mouth. Salinity melded with alcoholic sweetness and he sighed deeply. A pair of weights, alongside rope, lay in the canoe. In the dimming light, he picked the weights up. Rope was tied on their handles and onto Maxie’s legs.

"You win, Arceus." he declared, a bittersweet twinge to his voice. "From water I was born, and to water I shall return!" Rushing thoughts of Team Magma, Archie, those kids, everything came to him.

"There’s nothing left for me here." he muttered, throwing himself off the canoe into the sea. He sunk deep and hard, water flooding his lungs. It all happened very rapidly, but Maxie was able process a final thought before losing consciousness: "I’m finally free, floating into your realm, Arceus. Forgive me."


End file.
